Ghoomer follows the story of a young female cricketer who unfortunately loses her arm following a tragic accident, days before her debut for the national team. How she fights her way back with the help of her unassuming coach is what forms the rest of the story. What seemed like a cliched little tale featuring an underdog, turned out to be one of the most inspiring sports dramas that I have watched this year. It was almost like a ‘Googly’ that I did not manage to pick in the days leading up to its release. The screenplay running at a taut runtime of just over 2 hours is compelling and inspiring while filling you up with a lot of emotions. This, while the events in the film evoke a sense of interest despite following a regular sports genre template.

The drama begins with the introduction of the protagonist who is shown to be a top batter while being hopeful of donning the Indian Jersey. The writers acquaint you with the positivity around the protagonist in the form of multiple characters, most of them being her friends and family who are proud of her achievements. Soon her dream does turn into a reality after her name is announced in the Indian team off to England. But her journey is cut short featuring a life altering incident. The beauty about the writing is that it never really gets bogged down. There are multiple moments created that will have your full attention while forming a warm bond with the protagonist. And this can be attributed to her charming personality.

The proceedings are engaging and quite engrossing that often rise above the cliched underdog template. There are moments of despair which are shown wonderfully well with an underlying layer of depression which is prevalent in the protagonist post her accident. The pain of her character so beautifully translates onscreen wherein even the slightest ray of hope turns into a glimmer for the viewers too. And the effort of rising up against the odds is equated to some wonderful analogies that make the routine events in the film just so interesting. I also had a sharp eye on the technicalities of the sport, given that I have been following cricket for a very long time now. And those details in its limited capacity were well researched and contributed so well to the drama. The level of detailing in the drama was top notch as well(AB, a left armer teaching Saiyami to bowl left arm after she loses her right hand). Even as a sidenote, the topic representing the LGBTQIA community was handled with care while beautifully normalizing it.

In an R Balki film, the drama reaches its peak about three quarters in the film while sliding off in the final act. And that is what I was worried about here as well, especially given its subject and the practicality of the discussion around it being far-fetched(the concerned cricketing body is not that progressive unfortunately). But the drama doesn’t try to do anything unorthodox while completely sticking to the core emotions of it. That translates into a gripping finale featuring a cricket match that does serve its purpose while providing bouts of goosebumps at a few junctures. Also, the reason why the viewers would be invested in the finale is because there is a solid foundation built in the form of the preparation that makes for a wonderful watch. Overall, the screenplay here is well written and steers clear of the regular tropes of a sports drama while not trying to be drastically different.